Easterly Investment Partners LLC Makes New $1.86 Million Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Easterly Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,379 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth $1,228,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 9.5% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,047,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.06.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of DGX opened at $189.71 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $146.91 and a 12-month high of $191.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $182.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.13.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 28,288 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $5,293,250.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,453.04. The trade was a 42.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total transaction of $1,384,230.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,784,484. This represents a 43.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,186 shares of company stock worth $9,647,471 over the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.